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I can remember this song from when I was a very small child (which was a very, very long time ago) and now I find out that it goes back much further:

http://youtu.be/OgSHUuNYpuI

This was a cylinder from Ebay, which sounds quite good, to my still uneducated ear.

Thanks for posting this old favorite. If you google up "teddy bears picnic," up will come the link to the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teddy_Bears'_Picnic . Very informative, with lots of follow-up potential!

I do believe that the recording you posted is the one referred to as the first (of many).

If you're as old (young?!) as I am (72), you might have listened to a radio program called "Big John and Sparky," or "No School Today." It was broadcast out of WLW-Cincinnati on Saturdays, and "The Teddy Bears Picnic" was the theme song. I can recall, imperfectly, some of the lyrics:

If you go down in the woods today
You better not go alone.
It's lovely down in the woods today,
But safer to stay at home.
Beneath the trees,
Where nobody sees,
They'll hide-and-seek as long as they please,
Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

Trio:
Picnic time for teddy bears,
The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today.
Watch them catch them unawares,
And see them picnic on their holiday.
See them gaily get about,
They love to play and shout, They never have any cares.
At six o'clock their mommies and daddies will take them home to bed,
Because they're tired little teddy bears.


Musically, it's a march form, with a first and second strain followed by the trio, which in this context just means the third part of the form, not a trio in the usual sense of a piece for three performers.

Ah, the memories!

Jimmy Kennedy, who wrote the lyrics, lived in the village of Staplegrove near Taunton, Somerset. He is buried in Staplegrove churchyard which adjoins a small wooded area. Local legend has it that this wood was the inspiration for the lyrics.

Staplegrove is about 15 miles from my home, and every time I drive through it I find myself humming "If you go down to the woods today......"

My parents musical tastes were classical, but when I was very small they bought me Jay Wilbur's Rex recording of the number. I have it still, plus versions by Henry Hall, Alfredo Campoli, Philip Green, Ann Stephens, Barnabas von Geczy and Rudy Starita.

Which is the best? In my opinion Henry Hall by far, but I would very much like to add the cylinder version to my collection.

Oh, Henry Hall's 1932 version, of course! With Val Rosing's vocals (and this was the first time the song was recorded with lyrics being sung), this is the best. Here's a link to it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZANKFxrcKU

Here's a link to the lyrics, again from the wiki:
http://j4tb.com/funsite/funstuff/playroom/tbpicnic.htm

And the sheet music (N.B. the link on the wiki is dead. Use this one.): http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/metsnav ... ize=screen

I just picked up a copy of this one myself. I was really glad to find it. Great cylinder.

Jim

I have it on an Edison 2 minute by the Edison Symphony Orchestra.edisonplayer